Microbial strain data are being entered into a data bank with the objectives of generating a system for providing such services as: data on specific organisms and/or groups of organisms, a locator service for strains with special characteristics, identification of unknown isolates, cluster analysis definition of parameters of taxa, data management and report writing aids for research purposes, aids in quality control of tests, methods, and laboratories, and communication of data via common format. A data file of primary data on a large number of bacteria found in the oral cavity and related types are being established. This file will provide a resource for asking both ecological and epidemiological questions of interest in dental research. Programs have been developed and tested to enter, retrieve, and analyze the data in a variety of ways for epidemiological, diagnostic, taxonomic, ecological, etc., uses. The long term goal is to establish a world-wide data bank at a series of cooperating centers.